Fernando Alonso believes McLaren’s level of performance at Monza could have earned him some good points on Sunday if he had been spared another reliability issue.
The Spaniard’s Italian Grand Prix came to a premature end after just nine laps after an electronic gremlin crept into his MCL33 while he was running 10th.
“We had a problem in an electrical part or something because the car was misfiring in Turn 7 and 8, so I had no power in those corners,” explained Alonso.
“Suddenly the car switched off and I came into the pitlane.”
The two-time world champion, who will leave F1 at the end the season, feels McLaren’s reliability is going the wrong way.
“I think it’s a shame because sometimes we were in the points, like we were in this Grand Prix, and the reliability of the team seems to have made a step backwards.
“We definitely need to improve that for the remainder of the season.”
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Team Talk – Sunday in Monza
Alonso felt the wretched weekend – which followed his first lap retirement at Spa one week ago – was aggravated in hindsight by the team’s decision not to replace his engine.
“We were planning to change the engine at Spa or here and get a penalty at a track we knew was going to be difficult for us in terms of performance, but surprisingly we were good, so we chose not to take it here.
“In the end, we didn’t score any points here so it’s double pain, as we’ll have to take the penalty later in the season.”
The 37-year-old hopes he’ll be spared an engine change at the next round in Singapore.
“I hope not because in Singapore if you start last, you finish last, so we’ll have to stretch it as much as possible.
“It’s a true shame. Let’s see if we can make the car more robust for the coming races.”
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